


The Magic of Gift-Giving

by zekewastaken



Category: (여자)아이들 | (G)I-DLE
Genre: F/F, MinQi (mentioned), SoyeJin (mentioned), a christmas fic when its not even christmas, she's really trying her best okay, shuhua just wants the best for miyeon but her skills are limited, soyeon and yuqi are pulled into the mess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-17
Updated: 2020-03-17
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:01:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23185918
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zekewastaken/pseuds/zekewastaken
Summary: Christmas is right around the corner, and Shuhua has to think of the perfect hand-made gift for Miyeon.ORShuhua can't do crafts to save her life, and she fails all three attempts at making a gift.
Relationships: Cho Miyeon/Yeh Shuhua
Comments: 4
Kudos: 115





	The Magic of Gift-Giving

**Author's Note:**

> I desire more MiShu content, so here's my measly contribution. Enjoy .3.

Creativity was never Shuhua’s forte.

The last time she’s done anything related to arts and crafts was in grade school, where they were required to take a Home Economics and Livelihood Education class. HELE, for short (emphasis on the “HEL(L)”). It sounded like fun during the subject’s orientation week. Sewing, cooking, woodcraft, and basic DIYs… until it came to actually _making_ the darn things.

Cooking is out of the question (and topic), since Shuhua seemed to burn almost everything she touched. If they managed to survive the flames of her inadequacy and knack of clumsiness, food often turned out overcooked. Tastelessly bland and tough to chew on. But hey, at least that steak was edible. Right?

(Can’t tell, those judges are still chewing to this day.)

Sewing just lead to her hands getting constantly pricked at by the needle, and she ended up with a minor infection shortly after. Thankfully, it healed within a few days’ time. Enough for Shuhua to realize that this class fucking sucks and that sewing is a hazard to society.

But honestly, she’s better off not touching another needle for the rest of her life.

What about woodcrafts and DIYs? You can’t go wrong with those. Hand-made items serving an actual purpose will save you money and hassle in the future. A very useful skill.

Yeah, no. Shuhua doesn’t want to elaborate on the many times she’s either:

  1. Got her hands pricked _again,_ but by splinters.
  2. Almost cut off her finger because she had used the carving knife incorrectly.
  3. Used said carving knife to stab into the misshapen block of wood out of frustration, it left behind a crack in the center and she got seven points deducted from quality. (She nearly hurled the stupid project at her teacher’s head when that happened).
  4. Put her lungs at a health risk due to the wood dust and the Gorilla Glue her dumbass had decided on using while inside a closed space. Unintentionally poisoning herself and the air around her until her dad noticed and immediately dragged his clueless daughter outside. Okay, cool. Shuhua would rather die than finish her shitty birdhouse anyway.



As for the DIYs? They usually fell apart minutes after completion and didn’t even fulfill their basic purpose. Mainly because they weren’t even properly constructed to do so, which made them nothing but useless heaps of junk crammed together with adhesive and tape. Pathetic.

In short, Shuhua was never any good at them. Her outputs were always the worst in class. Even her teacher felt pitiful enough to at least give her a passing mark. She _did_ try to put effort every once in a while, but she still hated it.

However…

When it comes to gift-giving and dating the impeccable Cho Miyeon, you’re absolutely 100% obliged to give her something that she can appreciate. Something practical, something of sentimental value and endeavor. Something that tells her you care enough to put this much thought and work into it. A token of love and commitment.

Well, perhaps Shuhua doesn’t care at all then. Since her past few gifts were just store-bought items she got from the nearest department store or Miniso. Who wouldn’t want a cute, frilly apron? Or a mug printed with Ice Bear’s face on it?

Her girlfriend never had a problem with this. Miyeon always accepted these basic, but practical gifts with an endearing smile. Each time adding to the guilt weighing on Shuhua’s conscience as she took them gratefully, no matter how lame they are (per Yuqi’s words).

That feeling only worsened after seeing all the gifts Miyeon gave to her in return, which were always very personal and handmade items. Such as the mason jar full of letters she wrote during high school when she first started crushing on Shuhua, but was too afraid to send them. It also came with little slips of paper that contained a multitude of reasons why she loves the Taiwanese girl, each of them thoughtfully-written out and filled with heartfelt confessions.

(Shuhua ended up bawling like a baby after reading them, Miyeon had to hug her for thirty minutes straight until she calmed down and even hummed a lullaby in her ears. It was comforting, yet embarrassing altogether.)

So, what did the amazing Yeh Shuhua give to her sweet girlfriend in exchange? A matching set of Tom and Jerry pajamas she bought for 20% off at a discount store not too far away from her workplace. Had it been a Christmas party, her look of utter shame would be the talk of her office for weeks to come.

Although they were cute and surprisingly well-quality, Shuhua considered the gift to be absolute trash in comparison to Miyeon’s letter jar that probably took days to work on. Collecting past mementos from old memories tucked away in their attic. Plus, her calligraphy art is astounding.

But regardless, Miyeon wore the pajamas every week and gushed over how soft and comfortable they were to sleep in. Her genuine smile and the fact that she looked so adorable wearing them made Shuhua feel less bad, though she knew she could do better.

For this year’s Christmas, the Taiwanese suggested they level the playing field by following a certain theme or budget. It was more for her own advantage, really. Except Shuhua realized her mistake the moment Miyeon said that they could _both_ do hand-made gifts.

She was horrified.

“I-I don’t know…” Shuhua muttered weakly. “I’m not very creative with ideas…”

“It’ll be fun!” The eldest assures with another one of her beaming smiles. “Think about it! Nothing store-bought, just gifts made out of love! Isn’t it romantic?”

Between the two of them, Miyeon was the romantic one while Shuhua was not. She tries, but fails miserably. It’s a miracle how they managed to stay together for this long.

“Unnie, you know I’m terrible at making stuff. Besides… I want you to actually _like_ your gift.”

Her girlfriend turned her head from where it was lying on the younger’s lap and pouted up at her, sending a pink blush across Shuhua’s cheeks as she tried not to falter under her intense gaze.

“I’ll _love_ whatever you’d give me.” Miyeon promised. When she saw the uncertainty in those dark, timid eyes, she got up and adjusted herself so she would be seated on Shuhua’s lap. Straddling her as she cupped the sides of her face with gentle hands.

“Please, Shu-Shu?” Her voice had a hint of aegyo behind it, and that was enough for the Taiwanese to give in. She couldn’t say no to such cuteness, after all. It’s how Miyeon always gets her way.

“Alright. Anything you want.”

᠁

Stupid.

Stupid, stupid Shuhua.

You shouldn’t have agreed to this. You _never_ should’ve agreed to this, you whipped gay-ass bitch.

For the entire morning, Soyeon and Yuqi have been helping her brainstorm ideas for a gift to give Miyeon. They agreed to rendezvous at the older girl’s apartment since their respective girlfriends left on their weekly shopping spree together. Leaving Shuhua alone with two wing-women to assist her and take advice from.

“I don’t usually get Christmas gifts for Minnie-unnie unless I find something she’d like. She appreciates them, but still prefers having me around. That’s why I take the entire week off to spend time with her. It’s all she really wants.” Yuqi told her when she had asked.

“Soojin is kind of the same, but more on physical intimacy. She’s like an actual kitten craving for hugs and pets, so I cuddle with her on the couch while watching cheesy rom-com films. Those things make her happy.” Soyeon added right after.

Shuhua felt lost. Her two friends didn’t have a problem thinking of gifts because their girlfriends were easy to please. Not that Miyeon was super high-maintenance, or even required an expensive gift. Quality time and physical affection were also her love languages. It’s just that _she_ was so terribly bad at expressing her feelings and affections for the older girl, she used actions of gift-giving and surprise trips or dates as a way to compensate for it.

Even then, her “gifts” were pretty whack.

First, they tried knitting a hand-made scarf with a tutorial playing in the background. They did manage to follow the instructions like so—except Shuhua almost poked Yuqi’s eye out with the needles in the process and would’ve broke the annoying things, had Soyeon not stopped her. In the end, they wasted two full balls of yarn, their time, and their effort. Shuhua was also forbidden to hold needles or any sharp objects afterwards.

Next, they aimed for a simple lava lamp jar. Even a kid could make one (with adult supervision, of course). It took a single Google search for the three to find out that _sodium bicarbonate_ is basically baking soda, so they didn’t have to scratch their heads wondering where to find it. Everything was fine and dandy until Yuqi began sneezing, which blew off all the powder from the spoon and towards poor Soyeon’s face. A sneeze-fest had ensued shortly after, and the idea was scrapped for obvious health reasons.

Finally, they went out to the pottery crafts store just a few blocks away. While the items weren’t exactly hand-made (unless Shuhua’s plan was to gift Miyeon a huge lump of clay, then she’d do it herself), one could choose from the vast collection available and paint designs on it. So, she’s not technically cheating.

The Taiwanese had selected a plain, white crocodile and attempted to “recreate” Miyeon’s _colorful_ personality despite her utter lack of artistic skills. The result? A funky crocodile who looked like he got shat on by a unicorn with diarrhea, and was then dragged through the mud before getting thrown into an oil well.

(They decided to have some fun with the failed gift and excitedly threw it down from Soyeon’s rooftop. She paid for it, anyway. Let her do what she wants with it. Sorry, Mr. Crocodile.)

Because of her three failed attempts at making a proper gift, Shuhua felt like the worst girlfriend to exist by the time Christmas rolled in. All she could manage to scrap up as a last resort was a tiny coupon book covered with glitter hearts, and a very crude depiction of Tom and Jerry scrawled on its cover.

_“Love Coupons: Take One”_

Boy, did she feel pathetic. Yeh Shuhua, twenty-four years old and giving her love a fucking _coupon book_ for Christmas Eve. To add insult to injury, both Soyeon and Yuqi had burst into laughter when she mentioned the very idea to them.

In her defense, she didn’t have enough time left to think of anything else and it seemed like a sweet gift. Right…?

Oh, who was she kidding? Shuhua wanted to throw herself off a cliff upon hearing her own words.

Miyeon bounced with excitement as they sat together in their cozy living room, wearing those Tom pajamas she loved so much and her round spectacles that Shuhua found adorable on her.

“I can’t wait to see what you made.” The eldest said gleefully. Her child-like enthusiasm spreading to the corners of her smiling lips, which the younger girl mirrored. _God, she’s perfect._

“Why don’t you go first, unnie?”

Miyeon pouted again, and Shuhua grew weak. “But I always go first~” She whined. “Let’s change it this time. I wanna know what you got me.”

With a defeated sigh, the Taiwanese reluctantly pulled out her little coupon book and offered it to her girlfriend. Cheeks flaring red and her eyes averted elsewhere. She missed the way Miyeon’s face lit up as she eagerly took the booklet and flipped through its pages. There were 15 coupons overall, and no expiration date. The perfect gift for two soulmates.

“Oh, Shuhua! This is perfect!” She gushed as the younger girl stared at her in surprise. Seeing how Miyeon was grinning ear to ear with her eyes almost disappearing into happy crescents made Shuhua realize that the trouble was worth it in the end.

“I’m gonna use one right now.” Before she knew it, Miyeon ripped off a random coupon and pounced on the unsuspecting girl. Shuhua yelped as she tried to keep her balance, but failed and allowed herself to get smothered under her unnie. Laughing contentedly as she laid on the carpet with her girlfriend trailing kisses all over her face.

_Yeah, totally worth it._

Shuhua barely got to read what was on the coupon, though it didn’t matter once she felt Miyeon’s soft lips against her own.

_“One free coupon: All you can kiss.”_


End file.
